Opinion: Let’s look to Munster for the future

Earlier this week, employers’ group Ibec published its submission to Dublin City Council’s draft development plan for the capital, which is designed to cover the period out to 2022.

Ibec wants the four local authorities in Dublin to develop a single spatial plan to identify and address issues that need to be tackled in the city. It’s a sensible suggestion.

“Clear thinking will be required around zoning of land and ensuring the required infrastructure is in place to support development across the city and country,” Ibec argues, adding that congestion must be “effectively tackled” or the pressures that are evident each day on approach roads to the city will only increase.

Ibec has also called for more affordable housing for people to buy and to rent. An adequate supply of housing would remove the biggest constraint on growth,” it said, adding that it would improve the region’s “potential to grow and create quality jobs”.

A survey published this week by Daft.ie showed that the average rent rose in Dublin by 11.1 per cent on an annual basis in the second quarter of the year to €1,520. It is now 5.2 per cent higher than its previous peak in early 2008.

Building heights

Like Simon Coveney, our minister for housing, Ibec would like the rules on building heights relaxed, arguing that proposed restrictions demonstrate "both a lack of ambition and an unwillingness to deal with density issues in Dublin city".

This might be true but for every person who wants taller buildings in Dublin to accommodate population growth, there’s another who will advocate its current low-rise status on the grounds of quality of life and sustainability.

There might be a happy compromise but it begs the question as to the long-term growth of Dublin and the type of city that it will become in the years ahead. For sure, there is space to grow and evolve but do we want it to become another Hong Kong or a mini Manhattan?

Dublin’s population is estimated at 1.35 million and growing. Yet it is the third smallest county in Ireland, after Carlow and Louth. The 2011 census showed that Dublin accounted for 39 per cent of the country’s urban population but just 19 per cent of our urban land area.

In terms of quality of living, Dublin ranked 33rd in Mercer’s 2016 city rankings. In 2010 it was ranked 26th.

In terms of cost of living, Mercer has Dublin in 47th place out of 209 cities. It ranked just behind Boston but ahead of Milan, Vienna, Rome, Oslo, Amsterdam, Melbourne and Munich.

Dublin is also the 15th most congested city in the world, according to the Tom Tom traffic index. The extra travel time per year caused by congestion is put at 190 hours.

Hugely controversial

Dublin’s public transport infrastructure is creaking with the Dart underground project shelved, while the M50 is choked by traffic most days at peak times. Ibec’s submission calls for an outer orbital motorway and the completion of the Eastern Bypass, but both road projects would be hugely controversial.

And there is virtually no excess water supply in the city, with a controversial proposal to divert water from the Shannon to meet demand in Dublin.

It begs the question as to why Dublin should always attract more jobs, more investment and more people than the rest of the country? Why not have an economic counter balance to the capital?

In 2002, when Bertie Ahern, a true blue Dub, was taoiseach, the government developed the National Spatial Strategy out to 2020. The idea was to develop a number of strategic gateways and regional hubs. The plan was flawed in its design but the idea underpinning it wasn't a bad one. The obvious potential counter balance is the corridor between Cork and Limerick.

Scope for growth

According to preliminary results from the 2016 Census, the cities have a combined population of 183,941 while the county council areas have an aggregate 553,430. Put them together and you have a combined population of 737,371, a decent starting point. And with Cork being the largest county in Ireland in terms of square kilometres there’s plenty of scope for growth.

The area is book-ended by international airports (Cork and Shannon) with connections to Europe and the United States, large ports (Cork and Foynes), good universities (University College Cork and University of Limerick) and institutes of technology, and excellent motorway connections to Dublin.

Mind you, they could do with a proper road between Cork and Limerick.

There are also existing clusters of industries both domestic and multinational, including in agri-foods, aviation, financial services and pharma/biotech.

And while Cork and Limerick might not have the cache of Dublin, especially for foreign nationals coming here to live and work, houses are cheaper and commuting is a lot less stressful and time-consuming.

Munster folk have long argued that the grass is greener on their side of the country. Why not put it to the test?

Twitter: @CiaranHancock1